


Whispers in the Dark

by autumnstar



Series: In the Half-Light [3]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 20:45:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12661092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnstar/pseuds/autumnstar
Summary: Chloe still has a few things that she needs to tell her partner, and there's only one way she's brave enough to voice them out loud.(Set directly after 3x06)





	Whispers in the Dark

Chloe awoke a few hours later, her fingers still wrapped around the bullet he'd gifted to her. She hadn't expected anything from Lucifer, especially when he'd left in such a hurry that morning, but that pendant was the perfect gift. It was a callback to one of their first cases together; before their partnership had been made official, and before any feelings had really formed between them. He'd been a mystery to her then, and although they were now friends, there were still plenty of things that Chloe didn't understand about her partner.

It was a thoughtful and sentimental little thing, that bullet, which she couldn’t believe he’d kept, but she wasn’t too surprised. Chloe had caught glimpses of how caring Lucifer could really be, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

Opening her eyes, she looked across to the man lying beside her. He was still there. It was only once she’d opened her eyes, that Chloe realised a part of her had feared looking and finding the bed empty. As if she might have dreamt the whole thing - dreamt him admitting why he didn't tell her about Vegas -but there he was. He'd been about to find somewhere else to sleep after his drive back to LA, but Chloe had insisted that he stay. She wasn't about to kick him out of his own bed, she'd told him, but it was more than that. She hadn’t wanted him to leave her side now that he was back. It hadn’t taken much to convince Lucifer that she didn’t mind sharing the bed with him.

That was how, for the second time in just a few weeks, they'd fallen asleep together in his bed. The only difference was that this time, Lucifer had slipped on his robe before getting under the sheets with her. It was then that Chloe remembered Linda and Dan sleeping in the next room, but she quickly found that she didn't care. Linda was perceptive and great at her job. Chloe knew that for all her insistence that she didn't have feelings for Lucifer, Linda knew the truth. Then there was Dan, who'd always known there was something between her and her partner.

 _And there always will be_ , Chloe thought as she watched Lucifer sleeping soundly. It wouldn't matter how much he hurt her by running away, acting out, or keeping secrets. She could never shake the feelings for him that had settled deep in her chest. At least now, whilst she'd pretended to be asleep for the second time, Lucifer had told her why he hadn't let her know about his trip. He'd wanted to spare her feelings, _their_ feelings, and that had to count for something.

"I still can't believe you ran off to Vegas again," she found herself saying quietly. “On my birthday.” Lucifer didn't stir, and when the steady rise and fall of his chest continued, Chloe felt a little braver. "Even with a good reason," she went on. If she never had the chance to say these things to her partner's face when he was awake, then this would have to be the next best thing.

"And then you came back, and... everything I felt while you were gone," Chloe tried to explain, but found she couldn't get her words out. It wasn't easy keeping her voice quiet when she was trying to stop it from breaking. "It all went away. All the hurt, and--" _and the jealousy_ , Chloe couldn't bring herself to say. "And the frustration. It was gone. I was just glad you were back."

Daring to shuffle just a little closer to her sleeping partner, Chloe played with the chain of the necklace in her hand. She hadn’t let go of it since she’d pulled it out of the box, and she’d ended up falling asleep holding onto it. The fact that it was a present for her that Lucifer had hidden away in a safe, and nothing else, made her feel a little guilty for trying to drunkenly break into it.

“I’m sorry about the wall,” she whispered, and froze when Lucifer turned his head towards her. Chloe held her breathe, her eyes fixed on his relaxed face, and she didn’t breathe again until she was sure that he wasn't waking up. Part of her, she had to admit, had hoped he was actually awake and had heard all of that. It was his turn to pretend to be asleep, after all, now that she’d done it to him twice.

“I should be saying all of this when you’re awake,” Chloe continued, much quieter than before. “But you never talk to me, Lucifer, no matter how much I try to talk to you. Even all that stuff Amenadiel said, about you hurting yourself... and on that stakeout--” Pausing, she took a steadying breath before she could continue. Lucifer being asleep did nothing to calm her nerves and make it easier for her to say these things to him, but she felt compelled to. If she didn’t, everything between them would be left unsaid, and Chloe wasn’t sure she could handle it anymore.

"It's like...” She sighed. “Like you're trying to push me away."

Lucifer clearly wasn’t the kind of man that formed strong, romantic attachments. All of the men and women she knew he’d been with should have told her as much, and some of them literally had. She should have always known that if things got too serious between them, Lucifer would have pulled away. But then, that implied that he’d developed feelings for her in the first place, and she really didn’t want her mind to wander down that particular path.

“And then you go and give me this.” That was all she could make herself say out loud. Chloe could hear her voice starting to crack, and she didn’t want to risk Lucifer waking up and hearing her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, toying with the little bullet in her hand. Even when she felt Lucifer move in his sleep, she stayed still. Even as he put his hand lightly over hers, stilling it, Chloe pretended to be asleep.

"Would you like me to put it on you, Detective?" Lucifer whispered back, and she felt her heart begin to pound in her ears. Had he been awake the whole time, or was it by chance that he woke up after she’d stopped talking?

Pushing herself to open her eyes, Chloe hadn’t expected to see Lucifer lying so close, it made her breath hitch and she didn’t trust herself to answer. Silently, she nodded, and that seemed to be all the reply Lucifer needed.

With a soft smile, he slipped the necklace from her hand and sat up, Chloe following him. She turned her back to him, closed her eyes again, and counted to ten. She wouldn’t break this time. Maybe it was just the remnants of the alcohol in her system, or because she was tired, but Chloe was not going to let herself cry in front of Lucifer again. Even if he had been incredibly sweet the last time.

All of that resolve not to show how much he affected her, evaporated the moment she felt his warm hands brush against her neck. She shivered, and quickly wrapped her arms around herself in the hope it would hide the involuntary movement.

He fastened the clasp for her, straightened it, and then straightened the collar of the shirt she’d borrowed. Chloe was certain he didn’t need to do all of that just to put the necklace on, especially when she was only going to lie back down, but she let him do it anyway.

“There,” Lucifer said, sending another shiver through her when his breath fanned across her bare skin.

“Thank you,” she said as steadily as she could, and twisted around to look at him.

The smile that greeted her was tender, and didn’t carry any of the charming and flirtatious energy that Lucifer usually held. He’d been like that ever since he’d returned from Vegas, but after waking up beside her, and the way he’d put the necklace on, Chloe had been expecting at least _one_ innuendo. She was surprisingly disappointed when he didn’t say anything suggestive, and only kept his eyes on her face.

“Perfect,” was all he said, and Chloe didn’t miss the fact that he hadn’t even looked down at the pendant. She swallowed her nerves and tried to smile back without giving too much away.

“Well,” Lucifer said as he started to climb out of bed-- _his_ bed, which suddenly felt very cold once he was out of it. “I think I need a little nightcap. Would you like anything?”

“It’s the middle of the night,” she reminded him, but Lucifer only smiled and it was much more like the usual, playful smirk that she’d been missing. “I need to sleep off what I’ve already drank,” she insisted.

“I’m not just offering a drink, Detective,” he teased, and his smile brightened when she laughed. She knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself. Comments like that may once have grated on her, but now it helped to put her at ease and gave a sense of normalcy.

“No thank you, Lucifer,” she said firmly, but not unkindly. Sinking back down into the silky sheets, Chloe smiled back at her partner as he disappeared out into where Linda and Dan were still sleeping.

She listened to the light clinking of bottles, the click of a glass on the bar, and Lucifer’s soft footsteps as he moved around. The noises grew fainter and less distinct as sleep began to take her.

Chloe really was asleep by the time Lucifer came back. She didn’t feel the bed dip under his weight, or the hand brush against her shoulder as he pulled the covers up for her.

“I’m glad to be back, Detective,” a gentle voice told her as she began to dream. “I don’t want to mess this up.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure if I was going to do a third part for this, but the most recent episode did me in, so here we are!  
> (@mareyshelley on tumblr)


End file.
